What is the minimum number of doctors that could be at Souderton?
Connie-TichoJuly 15, 2020
Using p first
Should I know to place p first when trying to solve this problem simply because it has the most conditions associated with it? Sometimes I have trouble deciphering which condition/variable to place first on games like this! Any general advice would be appreciated!
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Thanks for the question! So take a look at what this question’s asking. It wants us to find the minimum number of doctors who can be at Souderton. So if there’s a condition that puts multiple people in Souderton, we want to avoid triggering it. Now look at the last rule. It tells us that if we put P in Randsborough, then we have to put K and O in Souderton. Well, that’s something we want to try to avoid. So we put P in Souderton. And that’s how we know to place P first when trying to solve this problem, because depending on where we put it, people will have to be put in Souderton. And in general, that’s how we can approach these kinds of questions; see what variables will trigger certain rules that we care about, and work from the most restrictive situations.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
Connie-TichoJuly 16, 2020
Okay yes this makes sense! I hope this general principle sticks with me
